This is a continuation-in-part application of the copending application Ser. No. 329,735 filed Dec. 11, 1981 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,876 issued 11/29/83, by the same inventor for "Non-Destructive Dental Cap Removal Means and Methods".
In that application a noose of stranded wire is fitted about the reduced diameter neck portion of the crown close to the gum line. To remove the crown, the noose is pulled upwardly toward the top of the crown away from the gum line by means of metal bands engaging the noose on opposite sides of the crown and engaging an upwardly mobile bar positionable by a screw mechanism extending through the crown top to engage the tooth stub. That prior application is adopted in its entirety herein as a part of the disclosure of this application.
There is no pertinent prior art known relating to the removal of a crown by means of a noose of wire positioned thereabout.
While the removing of crowns by the wire noose method is in general very favorable and removes even delicate porcelain crowns satisfactorily for later reuse, several problems which appear under special circumstances are not resolved heretofore. For example, some crowns require so much force to remove that the wire noose and wire band can stretch, rupture or become displaced.
Also the working space in the mouth is limited particularly in some locations. Thus the several kinds of manual manipulations necessary for removal of a crown need be done in such a way that they do not interfere, that required accessory instruments do not interfere and that the manual functions can preferably be done by a single hand. It is always desirable to reduce the number of steps necessary to achieve the crown removal and the complexity of the steps.
One serious problem is that the instrumentation required for removal of a crown such as the crown removing bar member may tend to tilt or encounter uneven lengths of metal bands, etc. in the crown removal process, thereby requiring repositioning of the bands, noose and/or the bar member.
Another problem in the aforesaid known art is that a stabilizing bar needed to be balanced upon other teeth by means of a cement cushion or the like to form a platform from which the lift is exerted to remove the crown. Thus, a complex, time consuming procedure precedes the lifting of the crown.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means and methods for overcoming these formerly unresolved problems.